Tray for parallel arm drafting machines



Feb l?, 1948. w.J.| ExNHE1sER TRAY FOR PARALLEL ARM DRAFTING MACHINES Filed Oct. 24, 1945 Il Il DRAFT/N6 /A/.s-rRuMEN Ts Ill velltor SE R ` "7 WILLIAM JLE/NHE! By li Patented Feb. 17, 1948 TRAY FOR PARALLEL ARM DRAFTING MACHINES William J. Leinheiser, Washington, D. C.

Application October 24, 1945, Serial No. 624,265

3 Claims.

and instruments,

In order to best understand the true import, of the nature andV purposes f the. present invention, it is perhaps advisable to stress-again that, a1- though my tray could be employed, let us say,

on a `'special hanger bracket or support (not shown) attached to a. drafting table or board; I

'have taken advantage cf the fact that it .can be precision made as an attachment and is correct- 1y made and standardized to nt on the arms of a well known type of drafting machine, this without requiring any alterations in the stock parts of ksaid machine. Perhaps the reader may not be altogether familiar with the type of drafting machine referred to and hence it seems advisable to point more specifically to this phase of the matter. I have reference, for example, to the type of drafting machine disclosed in the Leendert Ketting U. S. Patent Number 2,370,971, of March 6, 1945. Drafting machines and structures of this type are characterized by a structure wherein adjacent ends of the customary two arms are pivoted together, the free end of one arm being anchored on a remote side of the drafting board or table, while the free end of the other arm is provided with a head comprising a protractor and straight edges which are fixed in angular relation to move about the center of the protractor as an axis. What is more, the arms are usually in the form of parallel rigid tubes so arranged as to provide an open framelike type, and the tubes serve to accommodate the parallel motion bands, functioning as usual.

In carrying out the principles of the present invention, I have evolved and produced a light weight simple and expedient plastic or equivalent tray which is substantially rectangular in form, which has a transverse stop or closing wall at one end and which is open at the opposite end, the longitudinal edges of the tray being fashioned into hook-like flanges, these resiliently engaging the aforementioned tubes embodied in said arms. It follows, therefore, that the tray occupies a position carried by one of the arms, preferably the arm adjacent the protractor head, said arms then being used as a carrier and support for the tray and the tray serving in turn as a receptacle and holder for various instruments, the latter being in an accessible position for expedient handling and use.

Other objects, features and advantages will become more readily apparent from the following description and accompanying illustrative drawings.

In the drawings. wherein klike numerals are eniployed to designate like elements throughout. the views:

Figure 1 is a top plan view, this being a phantorn view illustrating a drafting table or board, a sheet. ofdrawings thereon, a drafting machine in light dotted lines, and the improved accessories and instruments tray in full lines.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the tray attachment per se.

Figure 3 is an end view of the tray showing the manner in which it is mounted on the tubes which are embodied in the swingable arms of the drafting machine.

It is to be noted that the drafting table or board is denoted by the character A in Figure 1, the drafting machine including a clamp B which is attached to one edge thereof and said clamp serving as an anchor for the companion swingable, pivotally and hingedly connected arms C and D. As before indicated, the arm C is pivotal- 1y connected as at E to the clamp and swings in a horizontal plane in relation to the table or board. The remaining arm is hingedly connected to the outer arm C and is provided with the usual protractor head F and other scales and equipment. These arms, as usual in the trade. include rigid tubes which are disposed in parallelism. I have shown the tubes and distinguish same by the numeral 5. They are in parallel spaced relation as shown in Figure 3 and serve to accommodate the customary parallel motion bands (not shown). The attachment tray, which fits in the space between the tubes and which is supported by the arms B, is denoted by the numeral B.

More particularly, the tray is open at one end and of general rectangular form in both the top and bottom plan versions. Although other materials may be utilized I have found that plastic, of different colors and hues, is desirable, The main body or bottom of the tray is denoted at 'I and at one end there is an upstanding flange or end wall 8 interposed tranversely between the longitudinal marginal edge anges 9. These flanges are curved in form and constitute hooks and are releasably engageable with the aforementioned tubes 5 as shown in Figure 3. They simply s nap into place. The length of the closing wall B is such as to t between the tubes 5. That is to say, this wall fits in the space between the tubes of the arm D. The opposite or right-hand end of the tray is completely open so as to permit the user to readily insert and remove the various instruments such as can be placed in said tray. The tray can be made as large as an ordinary drafting instrument box, that is the usual leather covered box used by patent draftsmen and the like in conveniently holding and storing their various instruments. The entire box could be actually slipped into the tray. What is more, the instruments most used could be kept in the tray for convenient accessibility.

It is believed that this unique and simple attachment represents a realachievement in design, construction and purpose. It aptly fullls the purposes for which it is intended, and constitutes an ideal added accessory for an already and convenient successfuly usable drafting machine. In tiltable type drafting tables where the drafting machine arms take inclined positions, it is 4obvious that by having one end of the tray closed by the Wall 8 and the opposite end open, the instruments are held against endwlse slippage and displacement from said tray by the wall 8. However, at the opposite end they can be 4readily slipped out and returned to storage positionl Then, too, by having the snap-on hooklike flanges it is possible to apply the tray to either arm or. for that matter, to any sort of a bracket such as could be used on a special support for desk use.

A careful consideration of the foregoing description in conjunction with the invention as illustrated in the drawings will enable the reader to obtain a clear understanding and impression of the alleged features of merit and novelty suffcient to clarify the construction of the inventionas hereinafter claimed.

Minor changes in shape. size. materials and rearrangement of parts may be resorted to in actual practice so long as no departure is made from the invention as claimed.

I claim:

1. A tray comprising an elongated, rectangular at bottom, a. side wall rising from each longitudinal side edge of the bottom, an lntumed resilient flange at the upper edge of each side wall for detachably supporting said tray from a pair of support rods, an end wall rising from one end *of the bottom for extending in guided relation between said pair of support rods, opposite ends of the end wall being spaced from the side wall to provide openings to slidably receive said pair of support rod, the upper surfaces of said end wall and said flanges being coplanar.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said iianges are semi-cylindrical with their adjacent surfaces concave for yieldingly embracing said pair of support rods.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said tray is of unitary material, said iianges being yieldable to have a detachable snap engagement with said pair of support rods.

WILLIAM J. LEINHEISER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the Sweden Feb. 9, 1939 

